Opinion: Lawmaker's 'rigged' map would steal Ohioans' right to representation
Whether we live in Columbus, Cincinnati, or Piqua, the districts we draw this year will shape our lives and communities for the next decade.
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But the legislative maps that Republican members of the official Ohio Redistricting Commission voted to introduce on a partisan 5-2 basis fail to uphold basic tenets of fair representation.
As currently drawn, these maps are more partisan-rigging and do not represent our state as a whole.
Since May, our citizen-led, nonpartisan initiative, the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, has held multiple hearings on the community districting process in diverse communities throughout the state.
Our commission has modeled an open, transparent, and inclusive process for the official Ohio Redistricting Commission to follow.
We aims to lift up the voices of Black, brown, immigrant, and underserved Ohioans — those who have been long left out of the official redistricting process.
When we as Ohioans draw the maps, we choose what hospitals, schools, and resources are funded in our neighborhoods, no matter our race, party, or income.
Our commission’s work provides an important avenue for robust public input where all of our voices can be heard and our power as voters respected.
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A few weeks ago, we submitted two, ideal “unity maps” of Ohio and a full redistricting report to the official commission for consideration. Because we had months to prepare and solicit public input, we submitted our maps by Sept. 1, showing it was possible to meet the first constitutional deadline.
Our maps are informed by over 2,350 community maps and testimony submitted by hundreds of Ohioans eager to participate in the redistricting process.
The unity maps are the culmination of our four-month-long engagement process where we heard from Ohioans all over the state without privileging voices from a certain political party.
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Our unity maps reflect real representational fairness.
For us, this translates to 55 Republican-leaning House Districts, 44 Democratic-leaning House Districts, 18 Republican-leaning Senate Districts, and 15 Democratic-leaning Senate Districts.
Our maps also reflect Ohio’s current demographics by using the 2020 census data and protect communities by minimizing the splitting of counties, townships, and cities.
The official redistricting process has been too rushed and inconvenient for most Ohioans. The Ohio Redistricting Commission does not seem to care about missing constitutional deadlines or producing fair maps with enough time for give and take.
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Over the last decade, we witnessed what happens when politicians with the party in power abuse their influence to carve up our communities. Gerrymandering weakens the power of our votes and injures democracy by rigging elections in favor of certain political outcomes.
Fair, representative maps like our maps reflect how Ohioans actually vote statewide. They also meet all requirements of the Ohio Constitution, as amended by an overwhelming majority of Ohio's voters. These are maps that adequately represent our communities and give people of color and underrepresented Ohioans a real pathway to political power.
Ohioans understand what is at stake. We want fair maps, full transparency, and equal opportunity to have our voices heard. We said so loud and clear when we came together across race, age, and place back in 2015 and 2018 to pass grassroots reforms for fair districts.
Our commission's work is proof that the official commission is out of excuses.
Kathleen Clyde is a former state representative. Greg Moore is President & CEO of Promise for Democracy, a voter rights organization. Both serve as co-chairs of theOhio Citizens Redistricting Commission.